Home made Dog Food help!

Mikey

Hi all!
I've done a LOT of research into dog foods , and dog food diets and have ultimately decided to switch to a home made cooked diet.

(I know what we feed our dogs is a VERY personal choice and also varies from dog to dog as to what they do best on-so I'm hoping not to spark a debate )

I'm looking for links/resources on nutritional requirments (specifically what they need and in what amounts) and any resources that could help me.
If any of you prepare your own dog food at home i'd love to hear from you as well!

I'd ultimately like to design the diet and then have my vet look at it, so there are no deficiencies but I definitely need help getting to that point.

Thanks!!

Criosphynx

I can guide you a bit if you want to do raw, but I don't know much about cooked diets, all I know is most people use chicken and rice as the base.

fawkese1

i was initially going to cook my own dog food also, now i do a partial pre-made kibble and partial food i make. i mostly do this because no matter what type of pre-made food i've tried for clover, he gets loose stools. i've been trying different stuff, reading lots of labels and doing some research online. i just started him on kirklands, a costco brand, which is of a higher quality than i would have thought, and it has glucosamine chondroitin in it (supposed to be good for his joints later if he gets it now and he is very big-boned) and i can afford it.

the food i make is mostly stuff that i read would keep his stools more solid. i pick one thing from each catagory and mix it all up:
cooked yam/pumpkin/sweet potato/applesauce =4cups
cottage cheese/yogurt=2cups
cooked veggies-green beans/broccoli=1cup
brown rice/barley/oatmeal=5cups
ground turkey/chicken=1lb
sometimes i throw in 1-2 cooked eggs and flaxseed oil.

i really just guestimate the amounts, mix it all up and then add about 3/4 cup to his dry food (he gets about 1 1/2 cups of dry stuff) 2xs per day. this is sort of a recipe that i found online, but i don't remember the site. all the ingredients are listed as foods that are good for your dog on all sorts of sites.....i'm not sure about the nutritional value which is why i still feed the dry kibble. i also feed the kibble just in case i'm in a situation that i can't get the ingredients i need or i can't make his food up. oh and he weighs about 80 lbs.

hope this helps you

Mikey

Thanks fawkese1!

Crisophynx-I'm not going to do raw, but if you could guide me on how you do raw that may help as well -as just because it's cooked/raw it should be the same amounts? Anyways would love to hear about raw in action

Criosphynx

There are portion guides all over the web. If you ever decide to do raw, I recomend the prey model diet.

Personally... I just eyeball it... mine are only fed raw occasionally, so It doesn't have to be perfect...also its often a whole prey item...like a rat/bird/gopher/mouse etc...they just eat the whole animal.

Mikey

So if they only get raw occaisionally-what else do you feed?

Criosphynx

Wellness dry. Its grain free